


my king of sun

by princeshixun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 23:32:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17192285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princeshixun/pseuds/princeshixun
Summary: King Lu Han hated his Hand and his Hand hated him, until they both realized that Oh Sehun's hands could do a lot more than just rule the kingdom.





	1. not my king

**Author's Note:**

> This is a lot more lighthearted than my last stuff! I hope y'all like it though. Hopefully posting will motivate me to finish...
> 
> You can also find this on AFF under princehannie.

    Even he couldn’t deny how cute Prince Lu Han looked that night; in jewels and robes and a crown that made him King.

 

    His coronation ended with a beautiful smile and more power at his fingertips than imaginable to a single person alone.

 

    That was fucking great, because, well, Oh Sehun’s life was officially over. Lu Han the Prince was difficult enough, with his tantrums and immature feelings and bad habits. Lu Han the Prince was difficult enough, and now Sehun would be taking care of Lu Han the King.

 

    Oh Sehun had been born to the Lord and Lady Oh, of Aeri; to nobility and fine wine. And responsibilities. Tons of them, of course, but none of them had ever meant to include wiping Lu Han’s royal ass every day.

 

    It was just that eighteen years prior, Lord Oh had been invited to Beijing, where the king waved his iron fist and Lu Han spilt his royal tears, to be the king’s right hand man— his second in command.

 

    Lord Oh left his eldest son and wife to protect the realm and set out to Beijing, six-year-old Sehun in tow.

 

    At first it was a babysitting job. Lu Han was merely two and lonely; Sehun was a well-needed companion, and they got along well.

 

    Then, when Sehun was approaching ten, King Lu promised him a place on the royal council— to be to Lu Han what Lord Oh had been to him. Sehun had never thought much of it. Most of his life had passed without the clutch of his mother’s arms, without the laugh of his brother Jiwon, and he barely knew anything else. It felt natural.

 

    But it wasn’t natural when Lu Han grew into twelve and the cutest thing the kingdom had ever seen. When suddenly he despised Sehun. To him, Sehun got all the compliments, all the praise, all the girls, and none of Lu Han’s princely duties.

 

    Sehun learnt everything Lu Han did and more. He learnt the curve of Lu Han’s frown, the petty laughter on his lips, and the things he was meant to do without ever being given the option to do otherwise.

 

    A king’s wish was command.

 

    And now Lu Han was king. He gave Sehun a smile that night of his coronation. It read: _I’m gonna make your life miserable, Sehunnie, especially now that I’m the king. Get ready to kiss your own ass goodbye._

 

—

 

    And maybe Lu Han was beautiful. So what? There were plenty of pretty people in the kingdom. Why did everyone always fall all over Lu Han?

 

    Lu Han this, Lu Han that. Well, maybe it mattered that he was king.

 

—

 

    Sehun had not been wrong.

 

    Prince Lu Han had been a piece of work, but King Lu Han was worse.

 

    King Lu Han was a major piece of work. More than his kingly duties, he seemed to care about being insufferable. He woke up in midnight needs for pastries, theatre performances, and blood. Sehun’s blood.

 

    He was practically a vampire, with those little fangs that the palace doctor had polished to perfection.

 

    That particular morning, he’d woken up and demanded Sehun’s presence in his solar, where he proceeded to grill Sehun on things that barely even mattered.

 

    “Where were you last night? You weren’t in your room.”

 

    “I was out,” Sehun sneered. “Did your royal highness need me?”

 

    “I wanted a foot massage and you weren’t there, Sehun.”

 

    “You can ask Jiali for that. Why do you need me?” He knew why. Lu Han wanted to shove his stinky feet all up in Sehun’s face.

 

    “Are you questioning the king?”

 

    “I’m your second in command.”

 

    “Second in command my ass. This is a monarchy, Sehunnie. I’m the one and only.”

 

    “If you really want to know,” Sehun’s mouth twisted up and he leaned close. “I was with Naeun. But she asked me not to tell you, so keep it a secret, alright, Lu?”

 

    Lu Han’s haughty expression melted into fury and his arm snapped out at Sehun, but Sehun had always been quicker. He caught Lu Han’s hand and pressed it to his lips, kissing his knuckles the way he’d done when he was twelve and Lu Han was eight, always playing love and war.

 

    “Be at the council meeting in twenty.”

 

—

 

    There had been doubts Prince Lu Han had ever grieved the untimely death of his father.

 

    In Sehun’s mind, there was no doubt.

 

    He hadn’t.

 

—

 

    After his absolutely thrilling meeting with Lu Han, Sehun made way to his father’s chamber.

 

    Lord Oh Jiyoung was still in grieving, months later, and it showed on his face. He’d lost his best friend and confidante, and Sehun tried imagining if he’d feel the same way would something happen to Lu Han. Probably not.

 

    Sehun’s father was planning to settle back in Aeri, with his wife and eldest son.

 

    Sehun had asked to go along.

 

    “No. Your place is with the king.”

 

    “Lu Han’s no king,” Sehun had scoffed. “He’s a child.”

 

    “All the more reason.”

 

    He missed his mother and Jiwon, but his father was unrelenting. “You may come on vacation, but not permanently.”

 

    Sehun wondered if Lu Han knew he was tearing his second-in-command from the life he could have happily lived. He decided not to tell the king, in case he’d gloat.

 

—

 

    The council meeting was a freak show, with Lu Han commanding a crowd of listeners for ridiculous stories that only Sehun knew he’d made up. Sehun sat at the other end of the long table, sighing and blowing a loose strand of hair from his forehead. It was just him and two others, waiting impatiently for the bunch to settle down. If he was king, the fools would already be on their way to the gallows. Lu Han had replaced most of his father’s council with friends he’d gathered over the years after, at twelve, he decided he hated Sehun.

 

    They were all idiots.

 

    He cleared his throat and called for Lu Han as politely as he could manage. “Your highness…”

 

    “Sehunnie?” Lu Han’s curly dark head popped out from behind Park Chanyeol and Byun Baekhyun, sons of lords who were shoving each other in play.

 

    “Do you suppose we could get this on with? We have the royal expenditure to discuss.”

 

    Lu Han waved him off. “You can handle it, can’t you? You’ve done it before.”

 

    Sehun sighed. Then he slammed his fists down onto the hardwood. A sloping glass ceiling aided in the production of the echo of an echo, and everyone jumped. Sehun cleared his throat again.

 

    “Let’s work now, yeah? There’s a nice place in the city we could all go after.”

 

    They all settled down immediately, young and never satiated. Except Lu Han, who wouldn’t go, as his queen mother had forbade him from making contact with any woman until his marriage.

    

    That meant he usually found his thrills in the palace— well, he tried, but it seemed that Sehun had garnered a loyal monopoly in the crystalline structure years before. No sensible girl would bend to the scary king, who was personally too nervous to command them so. They all preferred his Hand, whose fingers were longer and more skilled.

 

    Lu Han threw him a glare and Sehun launched a talk of into their increasingly hostile relations with a bordering kingdom. Lu Han was doing badly in managing diplomacy and so it was up to Oh Sehun, as usual.

 

    The ten councilmen listened attentively and some of them threw in ideas, like Lord Kim Junmyeon, from a lordship near Beijing. He was a part of the late king’s committee, and Sehun found him the most sensible and productive. No wonder Lu Han didn’t like him much.

 

    They decided to pay off their debts as soon as possible, and lessen tensions. It was not a tough conclusion, but took the brainpower of every one of Lu Han’s men combined. A day well passed.

 

    “Now for the Soshi-“

 

    “Tomorrow,” the king said, voice firm and brow unwavering. He evidently wanted to go play.

 

    This was not a normal running kingdom. Not anymore.

 

    Lu Han dismissed the roundtable so it was just he and Sehun, sitting across from each other.

 

    “What’s mother doing this afternoon?”

 

    “I don’t think she has plans.”

 

    “So she’ll be in her room all evening? Perfect. Let’s go.” He got up, adjusting the crown on his head— the one he insisted on wearing at all hours. He seemed to think that after his father’s death, nobody would be there to enforce the royal code. He was wrong.

 

    “You’re not coming with us.”

 

    “I am. What do you suppose you’ll do?”

 

    “I don’t know…tell her?”

 

    Lu Han hissed. “You wouldn’t.”

 

    “Pay up then.”

 

    “What do you want? Gold? More land? Another title?”

 

    Sehun thought for a moment. What did he really, really want?

 

    “A vacation.”

 


	2. not my kingdom

    Lu Han was a new man after that day. He showed off conquests he hadn’t made, and talked down the councilmen as if he was suddenly so full of experience and age.

 

    Sehun knew the truth.

 

    Lu Han had gotten so nervous, he’d ended up leaving a chip of his crown to a girl and gone home early, much to Sehun’s ire.

 

    He’d found Lu Han sprawled over his sheets face down and emitting the most forlorn noises Sehun had ever heard. He had kicked the king out promptly, cursing about the latter’s indecency. He was the monarch, for God’s sake.

 

    Lu Han didn’t call him in that night, which was great because he wasn’t supposed to anyways, but as Sehun lay there in bed, catching faint whiffs of the kingly scent Lu Han had left on his blanket, he realized something.

 

    He was so glad to be going on vacation.

 

    Lu Han’s miserable ass could make his own laws for three weeks.

 

    And then Sehun couldn’t sleep. Because fuck, Lu Han would be making his own laws.

 

    There went his fortnight in Aeri.

 

—

 

    “It’s about time he gets married isn’t it?”

 

    “Sure.” Sehun couldn’t imagine Lu Han with a wife. He could barely handle a night out.

 

    Queen Lu Lei pressed a delicate hand to her forehead. She was in fervent mourning for her dearly departed husband. Sehun decided to go easy on her. She was nothing like her son, after all.

 

    “I’ll have it taken care of, your majesty.”

 

    “Will you?” She looked up at him in fondness before looking down again and shaking her head. “No. This is my job.”

 

    Sehun shrugged. That was that.

 

—

 

    She spread an array of pictures on the table. “Pick.”

 

    Sehun pretended to stare then plucked one at random. “This one.”

 

—

 

    Lu Han had a fit.

 

    “You got me a wife without asking me?”

 

    “You’ll like her, dear. Sehun picked her out.”

 

    “That makes it even _worse_.”

 

    Sehun didn’t even try to hide his expression. The girl he’d picked just happened to be the most obnoxious maiden on the continent. He and Lu Han both pretty much hated her guts— the one thing they agreed upon.

 

    On second thought, did he really want her around for the rest of his life?

 

—

 

    Kang Seulgi arrived in a whirlwind of flowers, doves, and pink. Lu Han stared watched her arrival from Sehun’s chamber.

 

    “I can’t believe you picked her,” he hissed.

 

    Sehun couldn’t believe it either. He hadn’t realized that Lu Han marrying her would basically make him her second husband.

 

    He would have to see her almost as much as he had to see Lu Han, and one intolerable royal was enough.

 

    This marriage had to be stopped.

 

—

 

    They bowed to the Princess Seulgi, mouths twitching half in annoyance.

 

    Queen Lei was beyond delighted. Another female— a beautiful girl, in fact— to keep her company during her troubling times.

 

    Lu Han and Sehun panicked in unison.

 

    “What do we do? Your mother likes her.”

 

    “Not for long,” Lu Han said in sudden confidence. “Soon she’ll see the vile creature for what she truly is.”

 

    Sehun shook his head, sighing.

 

    He wished he had a pet.

 

—

 

    Sehun sent his master on garden dates with the witch, threatening him into acting kindly if not simply bashfully.

 

    He’d watch them from the perch of his bed. The sun was good on Lu Han; it made him look like something less than evil, and Sehun could see him when he smiled.

 

    The king glowed.

 

—

 

    One day Lu Han came back with a flower in his hair.

 

    They stomped it to pieces together.

 

—

 

    Byun Baekhyun touched Sehun too often. It was usually his shoulder or arm, but then it was the curve of his jaw.

 

    Lu Han didn’t like that.

 

    Lord Byun Baekhyun, suspended.

 

—

 

    Baekhyun wrung his hands. Please. We’ve been friends for years. Father will be so angry. He’ll murder me.

 

    Sehun believed him. Lord Byun was known to be every level of barbaric possible.

 

    Lu Han had overslept that morning. Baekhyun’s role was reinstated.

 

    “He will be angry.”

 

    Sehun waved him off. “He was having a moment.” Of pettiness?

 

    Baekhyun kissed him on the cheek.

 

—

 

    Sehun had never given it much thought, liking boys. It had always seemed natural to him. If one liked girls, he’d like boys too, right? Because they were all just as cute. At least the boys he hung around.

 

    There was one boy, really, who’d convinced him that there was no use in differentiating. Sehun was going to want to kiss him on the lips either way.

 

—

 

    The truth about Princess Seulgi was that she wasn't the seven embodiments of sin— in fact she wasn’t even the devil.

 

    She was the world’s goodness all pressed into one person.

    

    Sehun did his best not to hate her, but when Lu Han hadn’t tried, he’d forgotten about it too.

 

    Nevertheless, she seemed to be growing on them. Or at least on Lu Han, who’d taken her down to the kitchens the other day for a sweet cake.

 

—

 

    “I found him by the road.”

 

    Sehun stared at the puppy, and the puppy stared back.

 

    “What’s his name?”

 

    Sehun looked up at Baekhyun, whose invisible tail was wagging harder than the puppy’s.

 

    “I don’t know.” Somehow he wanted to name the dog after Lu Han, who by himself was worse than three terribly grumpy cats. But that’d give Lu Han too much credit.

 

    Baekhyun seemed to be expecting something in connection with him and opened his mouth to suggest it. Sehun thought up the two most basic syllables he could, looking for escape.

 

    “Vivi.”

 

—

 

    Vivi followed him everywhere.

 

    “Will you get that damned dog out of here?” Lu Han was as irritable as ever. Sehun gathered Vivi in his lap, ignoring him.

 

    Lu Han huffed, but allowed Sehun to continue their conversation about taxes. There was a rose between his fingers and he began to twirl it. Sehun looked away, glancing at Baekhyun instead. Baekhyun smiled, and he was pretty. Almost as pretty as Lu Han.  

 

    Sehun hated his life.

 

—

 

    “Will you promise to keep him from doing anything important?”

 

    Kim Junmyeon shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “I’ll try, but he only really listens to you.”

 

    Sehun scoffed. Taking his fortnight leave would be a huge risk. But he was tired of holding back.

 

    “Thank you.”

 

    He bowed his way out and went on his way to find Lu Han. He found Lu Han with Vivi in his room, scolding the puppy.

 

    “Why’re you yelling at Vivi?” Sehun asked, frowning. Lu Han had no right.

 

    “He bit me.” Lu Han scowled back at him.

 

    “Why are you in my room?” Sehun took his baby in his arms. Vivi nuzzled into him. He didn’t like Lu Han much, just like his daddy.

 

    “Because,” Lu Han got up off the floor. “I needed to escape her.”

 

    “Seul?”

 

    “ _Seul_? We’re giving her nicknames now?”

 

    “What?” Sehun was confused. Lu Han was the one who’d been getting along with her.

 

    “Why don’t you marry her then, huh? Why’d you throw that monster at me?” The king threw his hands into the air frustratedly. “She won’t let me breathe for a fucking second. _Oh Luhannie,_ ” he mocked her sweet voice, “ _share a cake with me? I love cinnamon._ ”

 

    Sehun laughed. “Vivi and I will take our leave tomorrow.”

 

    Lu Han stopped in his tracks. “What?”

 

    “I’m taking a fortnight off.”

 

    “You can’t do that.”

 

    “You promised.”

 

    Lu Han was sulking. “You’re leaving me alone with that intolerable bi—“

 

    “Language, your majesty. You’re not passing any laws while I’m gone. We’re in a good place with everything.”

 

    Lu Han directed his big hazel eyes at Sehun, and they hit him like a spotlight.

 

    Sehun looked away.

 

—

 

    He’d been dreaming of Aeri for almost two decades. Usually it was his mother and Jiwon who visited, rather than he and his father setting out for home.

    

    Home. He was going home. He’d been dreaming of Aeri for the years of his young life.

 

    His home stood in front of him, grand and welcoming, sprawling green and flowery.

 

    Sehun was greeted by his mother. She cried, seeing him, and Sehun might’ve cried too. Just a little bit. He was so handsome, she said. So tall. So strong.

 

    His room held the toys he’d been forced to leave behind. He couldn’t remember half of them, but there was a doll with golden eyes. Lu Han, he thought.

 

    Then he shook his head. He’d come here to get away from that.

 

    Vivi made himself at home on his bed of blue and Sehun lay with his puppy, scratching between furry ears and staring at the ceiling. It was different from the ceiling back in Beijing’s palace. That one was a classic cream, and this one was painted with clouds.

 

    Clouds, like the days Sehun forgot.

 

    His mother had cried him a goodbye, holding him for so long that he grew uncomfortable. His father had carried him off, promising him it was just a trip. That was his first lie.

 

    Sehun had watched the clouds all the way to Beijing. Sometimes they turned into the figure of his mother or the face of his Jiwon. Sometimes they were his toys, and sometimes they were things he couldn’t define, but so intriguing that he fell asleep just watching.

 

    “Do you like it, Sehunnie?” Sehun’s brother, Jiwon had appeared in the doorway. He wore an easy smile, like confidence. Sehun sat up.

 

    “Of course. I barely remember it, but…”

 

    “Mother and father are expecting you down to dine.”

 

    Somewhere down the years Sehun was gone, Jiwon had developed a greed for saying his own words rather than listening to those of others. Though, if Sehun thought hard enough, Jiwon had never been great with letting him speak. That was always his mother.

 

—

 

    He spent days just exploring the estate, finding the crooks and corners that would have been his had he stayed. He felt a weird state of nostalgia for things he’d never seen or felt.

 

    There was a letter from the King’s palace, which he opened just to find Junmyeon’s account of their statically standing nation. That was good. Lu Han was said to be doing well. That was good too, Sehun supposed.

 

    “How could you forget me?” someone asked him, a tease in her voice. “We were best friends.”

 

    “Were we?” Sehun scratched his head, frowning. He thought hard until there was an inkling of something in his memory.

 

    He looked at the woman, Joy— Park Sooyoung— who smiled so much that they’d begun to call her Joy. Their Joy. She made him smile too, Sehun who rarely ever smiled.

 

    She told him all the things he’d missed without knowing they could exist. Sehun talked about his Lu Han. She laughed at the king’s antics.  

 

    “He sounds entertaining. Is he really our king? Should we trust him?”

 

    “That’s what I don’t know,” Sehun replied, rubbing his forehead. “I took a risk, coming here. I might go back to a declaration of war.”

 

    Joy wore dancing eyes. “Don’t go.”

 

—

 

    Sehun figured she was pretty. It wasn’t hard to see, especially when his mother kept on and on about it.

 

    “Mother. I’m only here for a couple more days.”

 

    “So? Tell me yes and I’ll arrange it all. Just come for the ceremonies.”

 

    “I don’t know if I can get leave again anytime soon.”

 

    “Not even for your marriage? The king is a kind boy, I’ve heard. And you two are as close as brothers.”

 

    She was wrong on both accounts.

 

—

 

    Sehun kissed her once, in the garden and under the sun. Her lips were soft and when he pulled away for a moment, her eyes flashed with gold. He kissed her again.

 

—

 

    But in his dreams, it was another pair of hazel eyes that greeted him.

 

—

    He wrote a letter to Lu Han.

 

_I’ve decided to stay longer than I originally planned. I’ll be another fortnight. Stay well._

 

    “Is that really wise?” Sehun’s father asked him. “The King is young; he needs you. I doubt you’ll be granted leave.”

 

    Sehun knew that.

 

—

 

    Despite enjoying the time he spent with her, Sehun couldn’t give in to marriage with Joy.

 

    She was named for the joy she brought others, and yet he felt none.

 

—

 

    Jiwon’s work was light compared to his own. And Jiwon actually had a title.

 

    “But what’s a lord important for? Our Sehunnie is the undercover king.”

 

    Maybe Sehun felt pride.

 

—

 

    There was a letter addressed to Lord Oh Sehun, sealed with the royal vigil.

 

   _Sehunnie,_

_Of course not. Who do you think you are? Make your return right now. Do it. I command you. As your sovereign. Pack your bags as soon as you get this. But leave your dog. He scratches like a cat and thinks he’s king._

_See you tomorrow night._

_His Royal Highness and Protector of the Realm, King Lu Han_

 

    Sehun smothered his own smile.

 

—

 

    “Royal order.”

 

    He patted Joy’s cheek. This time he grinned at her first.

 

    He kissed his mother and father, and promised Jiwon a letter as soon as he arrived in Beijing.

 

    He waved goodbye as he drifted away, and then he turned around and never looked back.

 

—

 

    The sun sunk and so did Sehun’s heart.

 

    He had never been needed in Aeri; he’d gone back convinced that maybe he was. But it should have been obvious, the day his mother had let him go, that he was not needed.

 

    He had entertained himself like a guest, his only obligation being the pressure to get married.

 

    He’d wanted to get away from Lu Han, but here he was, going back to the boy who’d stolen his life, his will, and his desire for anything else.

 

—

 

    He found Lu Han on his throne, sitting not like a king but the spoiled prince he was supposed to have abandoned.

 

    Sehun could have scolded him, but it was two in the morning and Lu Han was waiting for him.

 

    “There you are. Did you forget your duties?” He eyed Sehun with distaste. Sehun drunk him in.

 

    He looked different, almost. He looked older and more beautiful than cute. Sehun swallowed.

 

    “Kneel,” Lu Han said suddenly, harshly. Sehun laughed a little before approaching his king and sinking onto his knees. He didn’t bow his head, though, but instead coaxed Lu Han’s fingers to his mouth, where he brushed his lips against the back of the king’s hand. Lu Han didn’t pull away.

 

    “You’re not leaving again. You have duties.”

 

    Sehun kissed his knuckles in response and Lu Han’s fingers curled around his own. There was heat in Sehun’s stomach. He didn’t know where it came from and he didn’t want it.

 

    “How have you been?” he asked, resolve melting under Lu Han’s eyes.

 

    “Wretched,” Lu Han admitted after a moment. “Mother keeps pressuring me for Seulgi and it’s hard for me to stay awake in council because—“ He faltered.

 

    “Are you having trouble sleeping?” Maybe Lu Han hadn’t stayed up for him after all.

 

    Lu Han slung his feet down hastily before getting up. Sehun stood up with him. He could take Lu Han to bed.

 

    Lu Han walked ahead of him.

 


	3. flower king, lover boy

 

“Get in bed,” Sehun said, and when Lu Han complied, he turned away.

 

“Wait.”

 

Sehun didn’t mind turning back around, not really, but he minded when Lu Han kept him there for the next several hours, drilling him about his trip but falling asleep when Sehun actually began talking.

 

Sehun sat there a few minutes longer, watching Lu Han breathe in and out, out and in.

 

—

 

He leaned in for a moment, nose barely brushing against Lu Han’s hair and skin, and sniffed him.

 

He smelled like home.

 

—

 

Sehun looked out into the darkness rather than the sea. He missed the water, because it always glowed and you could always hear it. It was always there. Dead silence, on the other hand, and despite him being used to it, was odd.

 

—

 

There were petals strewn across his bed, he found, in the morning, and their flowers in a vase near the window.

 

He held one to his nose, and found it familiar of the night before, when his fingers had brushed the strands of Lu Han’s dark hair.

 

—

 

But Seulgi smelled like them too. Sehun felt a bit lost.

 

“It was Lu Han’s idea,” she said, and then he was more confused.

 

Lu Han. Idea. _Flowers_.

 

—

 

He inspected his room for insects.

 

He only found a ladybug, resting on the windowsill and under the sun.

 

—

 

There was something quieter about the sovereign. He didn’t interrupt meetings with taunting statements or insulting ideas. He sat there. His fingers dug into Sehun’s arm when he wasn’t willing to make a decision. He sat there, and listened.

 

—

 

Sehun walked with him to tea, one day, and it was just them.

 

The maid brought in the Darjeeling, and Lu Han hated it. He hated Earl Grey too. He wanted chai, so Sehun had chai with him.

 

Lu Han stuffed his face with biscuits. Sehun tried not to roll his eyes.

 

“What’s with that face?” Lu Han questioned in accusation.

 

“Nothing.” Sehun turned his gaze from the king, focusing instead on the tea.

 

“Sehunnie,” Lu Han said suddenly, hastening half out of his seat.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

The quiet returned until Lu Han grew agitated again and spoke.

 

“I wonder what they think. To make me king so soon.”

 

Sehun took his time before answering. “Your father’s dead, that’s what.”

 

Lu Han bristled for a moment, and Sehun was surprised. They’d talked about this before and Lu Han hadn’t seemed to care. He’d thought Lu Han heartless.

 

“You were of age,” Sehun said, a bit softer. “Someone needed to rule.”

 

“They should have crowned you.”

 

“And what good would you have been in my spot?”

 

Lu Han fell silent.

 

“Sometimes I miss him. It was easy to ignore it before. When you pretend you don’t care you really start believing it. He worked hard, didn’t he? And I can’t do anything.”

 

“So what? You have me.”

 

—

 

They snuck out after, into the city.

 

“Hold my arm,” Sehun told him. “We’ll look like a couple and nobody will bother us.”

 

Lu Han frowned under his hood but did as he was told. He was too tall for a woman, but who said Sehun didn’t like tall girls?

 

He led Lu Han to the market square, where countless vendors and merchants dealt their goods.

 

“Does your highness desire anything?”

 

Lu Han pressed his mouth against Sehun’s shoulder, and Sehun could feel it was hot even though he was clothed in wool, and then there was a knot in his stomach. It was strange.

 

“Some chicken?” Lu Han suggested, and Sehun promptly agreed. Anything to move away from Lu Han and the weird feeling in his legs.

 

They were greeted by an older man who kept eyeing Sehun’s king like he was seeing anything but a shy girl hiding behind her boyfriend.

 

Sehun paid the man in coppers and took to dragging Lu Han along the street. Lu Han reached for his food. He’d just had dinner.

 

“Wait. Let me taste test it for you.”

 

Lu Han huffed as Sehun took a generous bite. “You’re eating all of it.”

 

“Can’t we share?”

 

Lu Han sulked.

 

—

 

Lu Han slumped against him sleepily. “What do you usually do when you come out here?”

 

“Not fall asleep.” Lu Han growled as Sehun laughed. “You’re too young for the things I do.”

 

“I’m the king,” Lu Han said. That was true. It was almost midnight and they’d climbed the city walls to sit on the top. Usually Sehun brought stuff to drink, but he wasn’t about to carry a drunk Lu Han down a wall.

 

Still, he was king. Sehun was supposed to listen to him. That was difficult.

 

Sometimes he did it, though, like when Lu Han swallowed hard and said, “Kiss me.”

 

—

 

Sehun kissed the king. Sehun kissed his lord and master. Sehun kissed who he really shouldn’t have.

 

Sehun kissed the boy he hated and who’d hated him first. But maybe he’d only hated Lu Han because somewhere in his twentieth year he’d stopped seeing a child but the child they could have. 

 

His prince had been so beautiful. And it had been wrong.

 

His king moved away, wiping his mouth and kissing him again. He was breathing out loud, breathing out Sehun’s name.

 

—

 

He had been too young— Lu Han. At sixteen he still laughed at the jokes of a child and pulled pranks Sehun was tired of. Sehun felt guilty, looking at the curves on him, less the straight lines.

 

—

 

Lu Han didn’t touch him at all on the way back. Was the king capable of regret?

 

Sehun hadn’t thought so. And yet he’d misjudged Lu Han’s grief.

 

Lu Han was all he’d ever known.

 

What the hell was he doing with his life?

 

—

 

Sehun was commanded to read him a book, because apparently his insomnia was still prevalent. He tried to make a jab at the king for having been sleepy before, but it fell hapless on his lips.

 

Lu Han ignored him, climbing into bed and looking up at him with a red crayon smile. His lips were all swollen. Sehun refused to stare.

 

“What would your highness like to hear today?”

 

“Read me your favorite, Sehunnie.”

 

It wasn’t Sehun’s duty to do this.

 

He thought on his way to the library. What was his favorite book?

 

He took a few back.

 

“You can pick from the—“ Sehun was interrupted by a soft snore. Lu Han was sleeping.

 

—

 

Insomnia my ass.

 

Sehun kissed his temple a goodnight kiss.

 

—

 

Every morning Sehun and his king were up at eight, having themselves bathed and primed for the day.

 

Occasionally, they ate breakfast together, with the Queen and nowadays Seulgi. Lu Han smiled at her more and Sehun none.

 

Lu Han sat in his throne for a couple hours every day, Sehun by his side, listening to the misgivings and concerns of the people. Sehun always told him what to do.

 

Then they had council, before lunch.

 

Lunch was always a squalid affair— Lu Han hated entertaining guests and it took a fair amount of bribery for him to appear pleasant.

 

Usually it was some sort of odd job or request for Sehun. This time it was a bit different.

 

“Let me leave ten minutes early.”

 

Sehun, baffled, agreed, and Lu Han led him into the dining hall, being kinglier than he’d ever been before. Sehun, baffled.

 

Exactly at two-fifty, Lu Han clutched Sehun’s knee under the table. Sehun opened his mouth to speak, but Lu Han interrupted him.

 

“Unfortunately,” he said, “Lord Oh and I will have to make a leave of haste. There is some business we failed to take care of before.”

 

“Numbers to crunch?” someone asked laughingly.

 

“Top secret,” Lu Han smiled. Sehun tried not to frown.

 

Lu Han allowed a kiss from Seulgi before he left. Sehun looked away.

 

Lu Han grabbed his hand once they were out the door. “C’mon. We haven’t much time.”

 

“What—“

 

Lu Han tugged him along eagerly up, up, up a tower and into his chamber. He locked the door behind them and pushed Sehun against the wall.

 

“Sehunnie.”He eyed Sehun a bit wildly, like he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing.

 

Sehun smiled. Lu Han was something else.

 

Maybe when Lu Han had turned eighteen he could have thought again. But it was not easy kissing a king who hated him. It was not easy kissing a king at all. Not when you were half a king yourself.

 

—

 

Lu Han had too many layers on. Sehun grit his teeth, forcing the undershirt out of his king’s pants. Lu Han was no help. He watched Sehun in the tenor of someone amused until Sehun kissed his stomach. Then it was something else.

 

Sehun’s favorite was nibbling at him. It made him rosier and just a little bit louder; Lu Han wouldn’t allow it above his chest, and Sehun noted it was the first time he’d ever thought of his Kingdom. Sehun could’ve been proud.

 

—

 

The King, shy: a concept.

 

Sehun could’ve written a book.

 

—

 

Sehun left his majesty half-asleep.

 

Cuddle time was for girls, Lu Han had said, but clung to Sehun until Sehun touched his ass. Then Sehun was officially kicked out.

 

—

 

Lu Han kicked him at dinner a couple times.

 

And Sehun liked it.

 

—

 

He hugged Vivi until he fell asleep.

 

—

 

Sleep is for the weak, Sehun told himself. He couldn’t wake up. His bones were heavy.

 

He wondered how Lu Han must’ve felt, and then he licked his lips. Bad Sehun.

 

—

 

Because, after all, Lu Han was tall and twenty. He was not the girls Sehun played with. He was so much more.

 

Sehun’s legs. They hurt.

 

—

 

Did Lu Han hurt too?

 

He asked in a whisper and maybe he was smirking. He probably shouldn’t have been.

 

Lu Han insulted his pride and joy.

 

—

 

He comforted his pride and joy in the image of the offender. This was getting out of hand.

 

—

 

It was difficult to look at Lu Han. Sehun only remembered him naked. It was so difficult.

 

It was okay. The feeling went away when Seulgi kissed behind Lu Han’s ear. Sehun had sucked there. He could almost hear Lu Han’s breathy murmurs in his head.

 

Lu Han smiled at him once that day. Only once. It was enough.

 

—

 

Someone was patting his cheek with cold fingers.

 

Sehun opened his eyes.

 

Lu Han grinned and whispered in his ear.

 

—

 

The king fell asleep this time. Sehun kissed his cheeks and mouth and the crown of his head.

 

Sehun wanted to know what it took to tell someone you needed them. He wanted to know how Lu Han had said it, without vanity and in words. He wanted to know why he could never say it, not to anybody. He wanted Lu Han, maybe, and he needed Lu Han, too, maybe.

 

—

 

He approached the door groggily and half dressed. It was a bit past seven, and someone had begun knocking on his door.

 

“Stay hidden,” he hissed. “They’re going to be looking for you.”

 

Lu Han pulled the sheets over his head. “Tell them I’m on a walk.”

 

“Shut up.” He cracked the wooden entrance. “Yes?”

 

“Have you seen the king?”

 

“Why would I have seen the king?”

 

“We can’t find him.”

 

“Did you check everywhere?”

 

“Everywhere. Is he with you?”

 

“Why would he be with me? I don’t know where he is. Talk to the queen.”

 

He moved to close the door but the guard kept it open with a massive hand. “Are you completely sure you don’t know where he is?”

 

Sehun rolled his eyes and he could swear Lu Han was squirming behind him. “Did you check the library?”

 

The man paused. “No.”

 

“You’d be surprised.”

 

He shut the door.

 

Sehun patted his cheek. “You should go now.”

 

Lu Han leaned into his hand. Sehun swallowed.

 

“Sehunnie.”

 

“Hannie.”

 

“Hunnie,” Lu Han smiled, so pretty. “Please sabotage my marriage now.”

 

—

 

“Stop that, Lu Han,” Sehun hissed. His master was sprinkling salt into Seulgi’s tea and pastries while she was in the powder room.

 

“Stop what?” Lu Han asked. “I’m enhancing the taste.”

 

“Really? I’ll tell the cook to add a bucketful of salt into your cake next time.”

 

“And you can be my taste-tester.”

 

No wonder Sehun had trouble swallowing him.

 

Seulgi came back and bit delicately into her food, as she always did. Sehun watched her wince and clear her throat, but not a word. Lu Han rolled his eyes before flinging his arm out towards Sehun.

 

“It was him. He poured the entire container of salt into your food.”

 

Sehun almost smacked his own forehead.

 

Seulgi gave him a look of bewilderment.

 

He left the room.

 

Lu Han followed him out. “What’s wrong?”

 

—

 

The day Prince Lu Han turned twelve, he, christened with a recently enlarged vocabulary, looked Sehun straight in the eye and said: _“Go fuck yourself, you motherfucking faggot ass bitch.”_

 

He spent the rest of the day reading about etiquette.

 

—

 

When Prince Lu Han was sixteen, he’d walked in on Sehun and his girlfriend.

 

Sehun remembered his bewildered face and the shocked little sound that came from his mouth. He had shaken it out of his mind.

 

But looking back, he couldn’t remember anything of the girl— only his prince.

 

—

 

Lu Han had avoided him for days. It was puzzling, really. Sehun had concluded that Lu Han was simply upset that Sehun was so ahead of him.

 

“You’re so full of it,” Lu Han told him at twenty, the sun in his hair and on his skin. “Maybe I just thought you were gross.”

 

“You would have told me if that was the case.”

 

“Maybe I was so repulsed I didn’t want to talk to you.”

 

“That’s funny. Don’t think I don’t know where your secret stash is. You’ve had it since you were fifteen.”

 

Lu Han tried to hide his shock, turning back to his book. They sat in the library, on the carpet, side by side. It was one of the their softer, freer moments. They’d chosen to spend it together.

 

—

Lu Han ran his fingers over the embellished cover of a thick volume.

 

“When’s the last time you read that?”

 

“Not since father died. Fairy tales don’t mean much in council meetings and to your Baekhyun.”

 

“Mine? He’s your friend.” Sehun had nearly forgotten about him; he saw the boy in Court and then Baekhyun disappeared from his mind again. That didn’t mean Baekhyun had ceased to flirt.

 

Lu Han thumbed through the pages. He still stopped and stared longingly at the paintings of knights and dragons. The dreaminess had never gone.

 

“Do you remember this one?” Lu Han asked. “This is the story I always had father read.”

 

“Oh, that one?” Sehun asked mildly. “I only remember how you used to say the guy’s name all wrong.”

 

Lu Han smiled. “You aren’t supposed to let a prince know he’s boring you.”

 

 

—

 

 

Lu Han slapped him awake. Sehun fell asleep again, listening to Lu Han drone on about Ser _Something-or-Another_ the Knight. Western fairytales were insufferably boring. Europeans were all about gallantry. What about the dragons? Sehun wanted to hear about the dragons.“Listen. He’s going to slay the dragon.”

 

Sehun blinked one, two, three times. Nope. His eyes slid close again. He worked so hard, as one would know. King by day and night, without even a crown.

 

Lu Han shook his arm this time. Sehun cracked a lid.

 

“I hope the dragon kills him this time.”

 

Lu Han was hurt. Sehun had heard the same story a hundred times before, after all. “Get up.”

 

Sehun blew his air frustratedly. Lu Han sighed right after him. He tugged at Sehun’s collar.

 

“You’re choking me.”

 

Something funny crossed Lu Han’s features. He kissed Sehun’s cheek.

 

—

 

Sehun knifed open a letter. It was just one of his many casual shows of masculinity. Not that anyone would doubt him. Sehun never thought that. It was just casual.

 

It was his brother. He wanted to visit.

 

“No,” Lu Han said, reading the letter. “Why?”

 

“Lu Han. Do you want to get rid of Seulgi or not?”

 

“She won’t marry him. He’s not a king. Her sister would never allow it.”

 

Sehun thought of Queen Taeyeon. He thought of the ring she wore, which no male hand had ever touched.

 

“You don’t know her as well as I do.”

 

—

 

And Seulgi was not the only princess, much less the eldest. There were three more.

 

Sehun had gotten close to every one of them, except Seulgi. Seulgi would have been crossing the limit. She was too horrific.

 

Why did Sehun sleep with so many people? He was bored, really, and more importantly, it annoyed Lu Han.

 

—

 

Lu Han was prettier with the evening. He glowed in mute oranges and pinks. Sehun undressed him to the settling sun and kissed his shoulder.

 

—

 

His name was soft, Sehun realized. It was soft now, when he had already lived for twenty-four years.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for updating so late! Things have been super hectic on my side, so I got a bit careless with editing and updating. I hope y'all enjoy this, though.


	4. the king, a side-bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't updated in forever, but I'm doing it now - I hope you guys enjoy it! I'm sorry for the delay.

Why were brothers so annoying? Sehun had barely ever lived with his so he hadn’t known. He’d only had his memories and those were all great. No wonder he’d wanted to go back.

 

But now, Jiwon was here, trying to take all of his things, and judging him at every turn. He said  _ little brother _ and laughed at the things he did.

 

Lu Han hated him too, so there was that.

 

—

 

Jiwon and Seulgi got along. 

 

It was just that— that Jiwon had brought someone with him that he shouldn’t have. 

 

Joy was still pretty, yes, but Lu Han had sharp eyes and he saw right through her shy smiles. Right through Sehun’s side-eyed glares.

 

“What?”

 

“Don’t act innocent with me, you whore.”

 

Sehun took his face and kissed him. 

 

—

 

Joy struck him beautiful, really, for the first time. He saw why everyone called her what they did. But he didn’t think it was because she was the one to bring him happiness. That was someone else. 

 

—

 

They were in the garden, surrounded by tulips. She smiled but he didn’t see it. He saw the squinty pair of eyes glaring from behind the rosemary bush.

 

—

 

Seulgi came crying. 

 

“I’m sorry,” she told Sehun. “I kissed Jiwon.”

 

Sehun stifled a smile.

 

—

 

Joy tried to kiss him but she failed. 

 

He tried not to kiss Lu Han but he failed. 

 

—

 

The ring was still there, on Queen Taeyeon, and it glittered blue diamonds. 

 

“Do you want one like that?”

 

“You think you can afford it? Have you seen your pay?” 

 

“I get paid plenty every night. Maybe it’ll buy me a ring.”

 

Lu Han’s breath was quick in his ear.

 

—

 

Sehun didn’t like roasted duck. He preferred chicken. What was the difference? A duck was closer to turkey and a turkey was closer to chicken. It just tasted all wrong.

 

Lu Han had duck breath. He gave his crown to Sehun. 

 

Sehun compared it to Taeyeon’s. Hers had been made just for her reign. She was illustrious. Lu Han wore his father’s and his father’s father’s and his father’s father’s father’s. Sehun worried it’d give him lice. 

 

—

 

Queen Kim Taeyeon was illustrious because of her kindness, her wiseness, and her generosity. Kings followed her lead. 

 

Lu Han tripped over her train.

 

—

 

Of course it was Sehun who bandaged the little cut on his knee. It was Sehun who kissed the pain away. It was just Sehun, always Sehun. 

 

—

 

Lu Han was three when he discovered the magic of bandages. Sticky and wrapping, they enticed him for hours, the rolls of them. He found them in blues and greens and dinosaur shaped. He stuck them to his skin until every inch was colored. He loved them, those bandages, and he used an infinity of them to heal invisible injuries.

 

But then when there was Sehun, actually hurt, there were no more left.

 

—

 

Sehun liked sucking on Lu Han’s lip. He liked sitting on the floor, and having Lu Han lean down over him. 

 

He didn’t know why they kissed so often. He didn’t know why Lu Han woke up with him every morning. He just did. He did and did and did because it was worth it. 

 

It was worth it to watch the younger fall asleep, and to feel breath against his own skin. It was worth it to have Lu Han fall apart under him. He liked his power. It wasn’t like the power he had with the others. It wasn’t power at all. 

 

—

 

It took some begging and ‘graciousness’ on Lu Han’s part, but Seulgi was joining Jiwon on his trip back to Aeri. Joy in tow. 

 

It was going to be just Sehun and Lu Han. Lu Han and Sehun. 

 

Sehun gifted him with a ring. Diamonds were for girls. He just took some wire from around the castle and twisted it into something wearable. That was all he could afford, after all, right?

 

Lu Han rolled his eyes and tossed it aside. 

 

Sehun was glad. He rather liked diamonds.

 

—

 

“Your king is a little too eager to get rid of my sister.”

 

“He’s not in a good place.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

“Then please go somewhere more private next time before you put your fingers in his mouth.”

 

Sehun burnt his tongue on the tea. 

 

—

 

“I understand,” Taeyeon patted his back. “You’re a smart boy. Be careful.”

 

Sehun didn’t know how.

 

—

 

Lu Han made friends with Byun Baekhyun when they were fifteen. The latter was on the wild side, pushing Lu Han to defy Sehun until all Lu Han could think was  _ not Sehun, not Sehun, not Sehun, _ and all Baekhyun did was the opposite.

 

Sehun was Baekhyun’s first kiss. 

 

—

 

Lu Han’s too, he knew, even though he shouldn’t have. 

 

In Lu Han’s mind, Sehun thought he’d kissed several girls. 

 

Sehun knew he was the only one. 

 

—

 

Kim Taeyeon, Queen of the Soshi, made her leave on the twelfth of May. They gave goodbyes with some regret. She was popular for a reason.

 

—

 

Lu Han’s bed was nicer than his own, which made him sad, because why hadn’t they done this here before? 

 

It was softer, more expansive, and there wasn’t the whisper of a squeak. 

 

Which didn’t really matter, because Sehun was so tired, all he did was give Lu Han a little peck before he fell right asleep. 

 

—

 

“You disappoint me.”

 

“I was tired.”

 

“That’s never stopped you before.”

 

Lu Han had him pinned. He was surprisingly strong. 

 

“You could have woken me.”

 

“You’re demonic when I do that.”

 

Sehun rolled his eyes.

 

“I have work to get done, Your Highness, since you never get around to that yourself.”

 

Lu Han kissed his temple before letting him go.

 

—

 

He really liked Lu Han’s bed. Really, really liked it. He wondered why he hadn’t ever slept in it before. 

 

Now it was his spot for afternoon naps. 

 

—

 

The old queen was upset. 

 

“Hannie, baby, what was wrong with Seulgi? How could you send her away when Sehunnie and I picked her out ourselves? Don’t you want to be married?”

 

“And what if I don’t?”

 

“You need an heir.”

 

Lu Han paused. “Sehun.”

 

—

 

“I’m older than you, idiot.”

 

“So? Have your kids take the throne. Married life isn't for me.”

 

“You’re twenty. Of course it’s not for you.”

 

“Why was Seulgi okay with it at nineteen? My father at eighteen? It’s not for me, Sehun, and you know why.”

 

“What about me?”

 

“You like them— girls, I mean. You’ll be fine. Just— just don’t forget about me.”

 

So Lu Han wanted to be his side-bitch forever. 

 

Sehun felt himself with a heart.

  
  



End file.
